


ties that bind

by glass_icarus



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou
Genre: Chromatic Character, Chromatic Source, Chromatic Source Creator, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-12
Updated: 2011-11-12
Packaged: 2017-10-26 00:24:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/276514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glass_icarus/pseuds/glass_icarus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinoe and Reiko and the art of navigation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ties that bind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [opalmatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/gifts).



> Thanks to paperwar & cafecliche for looking this over! <3

The night is cool and clear and just now windless, so that the lake before her looks like a bowl of stars. Hinoe stretches out on the grass and idly scratches at her scalp with her hairpin- quite undignified, but there are no ayakashi around to disapprove. Right now she isn't sure she'd care if there were; it's a bother to keep up with appearances sometimes.

"What are you looking at?" says Reiko, behind her. Hinoe jumps, jerking the pin loose. Her hair tumbles down in an unruly mass.

"Reiko." Someday, surely, Reiko will stop surprising her, but today is not that day. Perhaps she's picked up a few bad habits from human-watching after all. It's dangerous to be so inattentive.

"Don't be grumpy." Reiko kneels, taking the hairpin from her fingers. "I'm sorry I startled you. Here, let me put it up."

"I must be getting careless," Hinoe says, disgruntled, but turns around anyway.

Reiko's hands pause at the crown of her head. "Really? Maybe I should bind you to me."

"A contract? And what would be the point of that?"

"You'd be much more alert if I could call you at any time."

Hinoe rolls her eyes. "You have a whole book of 'friends' to call, and yet you never do."

"I guess that's true," says Reiko, running her fingers through Hinoe's hair. "Well, you _are_ much more fun than most of them."

"Hmph," says Hinoe. "Impudent as always. Don't _stop_."

"See?" Reiko laughs and resumes her finger-combing. "I told you you're more fun."

The last of the tangles disappears beneath Reiko's hands, her fingernails raking lightly down the back of Hinoe's neck, arranging the thick mass into something more to her liking. Hinoe closes her eyes at the faint tug of the gathered strands as Reiko twists and coils them.

"Why did you make the contracts if you weren't going to use them?"

"Because it's fun." Hinoe doesn't turn, but she can still feel Reiko's characteristic shrug. "Besides, I like meeting new ayakashi. Talking to them is more interesting than talking to people."

"I don't know about that. The lesser ones can be pretty nonsensical, and the more powerful ones hold grudges if you get on their bad side. Some of them already want to eat you."

"I don't mind. It's kind of comforting to know that they'll remember me, either way."

Hinoe laughs. " _That's_ not something you need to worry about. You have a reputation, you know."

Reiko tugs her ear gently. "Hairpins? I'm almost finished."

"You have one already."

"Huh, it's the one I fished out of the lake for you. Don't you have any other pins?"

"Of course I do, but I'm not going to stop wearing my favorite just because I have others."

"That's not what I meant," Reiko says impatiently. "It's no business of mine if the crows keep descending on you while you're wearing it, I just need more than one if you want this to stay up properly."

"Oh." She'll never admit it, but her face feels a little warm. She's glad Reiko can't see it. "Here, are these enough?"

"They'll do. It's quiet here, isn't it?"

"Mm. Is that a complaint?"

"Not at all. That's why I like it here. Humans are so noisy."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd ever been stuck with Madara while he's drunk."

" _Madara_ , really?" Reiko sounds entirely too gleeful. Hinoe shudders- at the memory of the last festival banquet or the feeling of the cool metal points sliding into place at her nape, she isn't sure which.

"... I really don't want to talk about it."

"Hmmmm." Reiko's fingers flutter from one spot to another, making minor adjustments. "There, it's perfect! Ah, I wish I could have a picture."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Reiko sighs and settles down beside her in the grass. "Come on. Don't you owe me a favor, since I fixed your hair for you?"

"You _offered_ ," Hinoe says, affronted. "A gift is a gift."

"Hmph. Maybe I really _should_ bind you so you'll listen to me."

Hinoe smiles. She knows better than to take Reiko's words at face value, even if they're threats. "Would you really?"

"Do you want me to challenge you?"

For a moment, Hinoe considers it. Would it be worth it, to battle Reiko? Admittedly, the competitive side of her thrills at the idea of it, to see how Reiko's power measures up against her own. If the rumors are true, she might even be enough of a handful to give Hinoe a real challenge. Yet Reiko's formidable strength is lodged within a frail human body, and somehow Hinoe finds herself reluctant to shorten the span of an already-fleeting life.

"I think I'll pass, at least for now," she says.

"Are you so unwilling to serve me?"

"Are you not satisfied by the time we already spend together?" Reiko blinks, and the confused look on her face is enough to make Hinoe forget her caution. "You don't need my page in your book for me to stay by your side." She stops herself, instantly mortified.

"I don't understand."

… Well. It would have been wiser to bite her tongue, but Hinoe supposes she'll survive. Maybe she'll even recover from her embarrassment sometime this century. "There are more interesting ways to pass the time, don't you think? Friends are different from servants."

Reiko tilts her head, smiling sweetly. "Friends address each other by name, don't they? Hinoe."

Oh, that _manipulative brat_. Hinoe's eyebrow twitches. "Natsume Reiko, sometimes I forget how infuriating you are."

"If I called your name right now, would you answer?"

"Maybe if you don't provoke me."

Reiko laughs and reaches for her hand. Hinoe twitches away so that Reiko's fingers close around her sleeve instead.

"Hinoe."

"Mm?"

"I'm glad you're my friend, you know."

"Hmph. It's a good thing you're cute."

The wind rises over the lake, blurring the pinpoint clarity of the stars in the water. Reiko shivers and shifts a little closer for warmth. After a while, Hinoe smiles, content.


End file.
